Main menu

‘Berg Symphonic Band to share “Flashbax”

Apr 16, 2013

The Heidelberg University Symphonic Band will present its spring concert, “Flashbacks,” at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 27, in Brenneman Concert Hall.

The concert takes its title from a similarly titled piece, “Flashbax,” which will be performed. “Flashbax” was commissioned by the Ohio Private College Instrumental Conductor’s Association in memory of founding member William Schlacks, who was the director of bands at Muskingum University. Schlacks passed away unexpectedly two years ago, and the work calls upon his love of classic band literature, including short dreamlike quotations from many standard works in the band repertoire. The composer is Jesse Ayers from Malone University, who plans to attend the concert.

The premiere of “Flashbax” was at the OPCICA festival in January, with Heidelberg’s John E. Owen conducting. Owen, who directs the Symphonic Band, is a founding member of OPCICA.

The concert also will include new and older works for winds and percussion, representing both traditional composers and more contemporary voices. In the traditional repertoire will be “Children of the Regiment,” a march by Czech composer Julius Fucik, “Children’s March: Over the Hills and Far Away” by Australian-born Percy Grainger and “Old Home Days” by American composer Charles Ives.

In addition to “Flashbacks,” contemporary composers will be represented by David Maslanka’S “Golden Light,” an evocative work inspired by the composer’s walk in the woods on a sunny fall day, and Daniel Kallman’s “The Jig is Up,” a whimsical take on traditional Irish jigs.

The Symphonic Band is a 45-piece auditioned ensemble which performs frequently on campus and as a guest ensemble in a number of venues. Owen has conducted the band since 1979.